Entering USA while fiance Visa is pending

[Duke 0]

I wrote about this topic several weeks ago, and have seen several more posts since. Anyhow, I thought I'd share our real-life experience this week. My Australian fiance traveled from Germany on a R/T ticket to the USA, intending to stay for the full 90 days allowed on the Visa Waiver Program (VWP).

We were concered because (i) we have a fiance visa applciation pending, (ii) my fiance did not possess a return ticket to her country, (iii) this is the 3rd time she's entered the USA in the past 5 months (but the 1st since applying for a fiance visa) and (iv) she no longer has a 'home' in Australia, as this trip was her 'move' to the USA. When she returns to Australia after 90 days, she will stay with friends, and hopefully her interview will occur right away (she's already completed the police and medical.)

The Immigration officer questioned her for about 4 minutes. She did not ask for proof of my fiance's return ticket. The questons that my fiance remembers the Immigration officer asking are: (i) where she was staying in the USA (my fiance said 'with my boyfriend'), (ii) where her boyfriend lived, (iii) what her boyfriend did for a living, (iv) when she was returning to Australia, (v) if she had returned to Australia since her previous trip to the States in early Feb, (vi) how long she was staying in the USA this time, (vii) how much money she had on her, (viii) and since the answer to the previous question was "zero", how much money she had in the bank back in Australia (thankfully my fiance brought a copy of her bank statement. )

Edited April 22, 2007 by Duke

[L_n_O 3]

Why didn't she say "fiancee"? was there a specific reason?

[Duke 0]

Why didn't she say "fiancee"? was there a specific reason?

She said 'boyfriend' instead of 'fiance' to avoid raising any unnecessary flags. If the immigration officer had asked anything about marriage plans or intentions, she would have elaborated more.

[TimsDaisy 0]

My fiance is still my boyfriend - and I hope he remains my boyfriend forever. At the very least, until he's my husband, he's still my boyfriend.

(When I went to the UK, the only reason I said "fiance" was because I was wearing the ring and I was too afraid that in my jetlagged state I would drop it out of my pocket or something if I took it off my finger. But that made me travel with the same sort of proof-of-ties that travelers to the US here are advised to bring, since the UK standards very, very similar to ours. I'd have rather saved the headache since I knew that I wasn't going to be overstaying anything.)